Govt agrees to tweak law for ease-of-doing biz on Ayush

THE Centre has agreed to drop a crucial rule in the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, which was specially introduced to prevent misleading advertisements of Ayush medicines, to promote ease of doing business.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT

Rule 170 was omitted from the Drugs and Cosmetic Act in May.

However, despite experts seeking the reason behind the same, there was no response from the Ayush ministry. In a letter, the Ayush ministry said that the 'decision for the omission of Rule 170 was a conscious decision, considering policy of the government to promote ease of doing business."

The letter was in response to RTI activist Dr KV Babu, who had asked the ministry why such an important rule was omitted. It said the decision was taken by the Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani Drugs Technical Advisory Board in its meeting on March 15, 2021. ASUDTAB advises both the Centre and the state government on technical matters.